Permanent Error
by Syn'ph
Summary: Directly after the war with Byakuran, we all know that Tsuna was supposed to go back to his own time, right? Well, that doesn't happen. Instead, Tsuna wasn't transported to Present Japan; he instead transported to Italy in the same time, where Hibari Kyoya was carrying out an important mission. ON HIATUS.
1. Re Introduce

**Chapter 1: Re-Introduce**

_Permanent Error_

_**Rating:**_ T

_**Summary:**_ Directly after the war with Byakuran, we all know that Tsuna is supposed to go back to his own time, right? Well, that doesn't happen. Imagine the horror of Tsuna when he comes to find out that he wasn't transported to Present Japan; he instead transported to Italy in the same time period, where Hibari Kyoya is carrying out an important mission! Not only that, but he can't get back home. For some reason, the time snapped between the future and the past. And what everyone does not realize is that if they don't find a solution to the mistake and fast, Tsuna might be stuck in the future forever.

Tsuna, in the meantime, has to stay over someone's house. The base is all fine and dandy, but Reborn and the others aren't there to take care of him. They're all back in their _usual_ time. So guess who he has to stay with. _Guess_. You're probably right.

_**Author's Ramble:**_ Yep. This is going to be interesting. I read this story again and again, and I think, quite honestly, that this story will need some TLC. A lot of it. Starting with this chapter. I feel like I was too vague, you know, but now that I have a chance to fix it, I will. But for everyone who has read it already, I am just making some adjustments. So don't mind little ol' me, and move along!~

_**Warnings:**_ None.

_**DISCLAIMER:**_ Oh my god! I forgot to say this isn't mine! *dodges rocks and stones* I'm sorry! I told you I was tired! Okay, this belongs to *dodge* Akira- *spins* Amano! So STOP THROWING ROCKS!

...

Onto the meat & potatoes!

* * *

**Re-Introduce**

"So what you're saying is...Sawada Tsunayoshi can't go back to his own time?" A blue-haired woman stared at Tsuna skeptically.

"There must be a mistake somewhere." A man with spectacles flickered his eyes over to Tsuna, who was staring back fearfully as he began to fidget. He knew the boy was afraid, and who could blame him? He couldn't go back home, and they didn't know why.

He sighed heavily and said:

"Nope. Until we find out the cause of this dilemma, he's going to have to stay with one of you." The eight of them glanced at each other, some panicked, and others worried.

...

Let's go back in time for a bit, since none of this makes sense, right?

...

* * *

_"Hibari-san! Thank god I found you in this mess! Please don't run away from me again!" Not that he was, but to Tsuna, who was much smaller, he was. _

_The tall man with a raven's mane glared at the younger boy, somewhat irritated at his presence. He watched silently as Tsuna struggled to regain his breath, putting a shaking hand to his heart, panting heavily from the exercise._

_He waited until the boy caught his breath, and then the older man started to walk in and out between the crowds. The two of them were on the busy streets of Italy, with massive traffic coming in and out, making New York's Rush Hour seem like a joke._

_One would think that Hibari would be at least compassionate, since they fought together against Byakuran. But that was not so as he showed no compassion towards the boy. He didn't offer anything to Tsuna, and he didn't say anything to him.  
_

_Hibari felt that he didn't need to stay longer. If he interacted (forget that, if he so much as _slowed down_) for the boy, it would increase the time in which he spent there, and he didn't want that at all.  
_

_But enough of that. How did the two of them meet in the first place if Tsuna was supposedly with a blue-haired girl and a thin man with spectacles? Well, it really isn't hard to explain._

_He met Tsuna by a water fountain on the right side of a hotel, eyes wide with fright and clothes somewhat tattered from whatever he went through. Since he was back in his original body, Hibari wondered why Tsuna was not. But he approached him anyways, curiosity driving him all the way. He didn't think of why he was in Italy when the last he saw of him was in Japan; he simply wondered why Tsuna was there in his fifteen year old body.  
_

_He didn't bother state the boy's name; all he asked was, _

_"Why are you in that state?" Somehow, Tsuna knew he was talking to him, and jerking his head up, replied shakily,  
_

_"I was supposed to go back to my time a few minutes ago. But instead I am here, which...I don't even know where this place is..." He could almost smell the fear on the boy, the fear of being left alone again, the fear of what might happen to him. So he simply grunted and motioned for the boy to follow him, which Tsuna gladly did._

_ Now, as Tsuna trailed behind him, he ignored the boy, and kept on going. The only proof that he actually cared if Tsuna was with him was that he glanced back occasionally to see if the boy was still following him._

_He was._

_It was extremely annoying; it wasn't annoying because he was following him (hell, he pretty much told him to), but mostly because of that doleful look he had on his face. His big, brown eyes were wider, if possible, and his lower lip trembled slightly._

_The herbivore was like a kicked puppy, for god's sake._

_It was even worse when Tsuna followed him all the way to the airport._

_"Two people?" The receptionist questioned with a small smile. That smile was mostly directed at Tsuna, who still had the appearance of a kicked puppy._

_But that was probably because it was Hibari._

_Because he was _with_ Hibari, that is._

_In any case, Hibari had grunted as a response. He couldn't leave him here, not in a place where the boy had no passport and could be deemed a terrorist to a lost child._

_He had no choice but to take the boy back to the base.  
_

_"Thank you, Hibari-san." And like the herbivore always did, he thanked him. That rose his irritation level up in magnitudes, but he said nothing and kept on walking..._

_...all the way to the plane and back to the Hideout._

* * *

That, in short, is the reason why Tsuna is here, nervously looking from Infant to Infant, and person to person. The problem was that no one showed _any_ sign that they would take him in.

Lal Mirch, the blue-haired firecracker, flat-out said, "No. Why the hell should I take in a weakling like him with me? He'll be a hassle, and an extra chore to take care of."

The infant next to her coddled and teased her about the issue, but she grew red to the face and the two stormed out of the base.

Skull also said no. "I have no reason to take him in!" Then, seeing as Reborn wasn't around, shouted, "He's Reborn's student, let _him_ take care of this mess!"

But where Skull was cruel, Fong, the Chinese infant, was sympathetic. "I would love to take you in, I really would, but I would have to get back to China. It isn't often that I'm able to come up here. China is far from Japan, and when they figure out the problem with your transportation, it will take a while for you to actually get back to Japan. For that, I'm sorry."

Tsuna was grateful someone actually cared. And that showed on his face as his lips slowly curved up, and he quickly bit out a soft 'No, thank you.'

But it wasn't over yet.

"HE CAN COME OVER OUR HOUSE!" Ryohei walked briskly to him, clamping a hand on Tsuna's slim shoulder. "KYOKO AND I DON'T MIND IN THE SLIGHTEST!"

But Tsuna quickly brushed off his offer. "Thank you brother, but I'll find another person." He didn't want to be a burden, and seeing that Ryohei had not only his work, but his girlfriend to tend to, Tsuna felt like he would get in the way. However, seeing that Ryohei was shot, other people started to volunteer, in hopes of keeping him for recreational and personal use.

...

Like Verde, for instance.

Verde spoke excitedly for the first time in forever as he faced Tsuna. He looked like a baby that just got its bottle, or a boy getting a piece of candy. "You are an _excellent_ source of information. I would be glad to-" But Tsuna cut him off before he got any further.

"No, no, it's okay," Tsuna interrupted nervously with a small smile. And then he sighed softly to himself. This would go on forever unless someone _proper_ took him in.

It was around then when Hibari begrudgingly spoke up, his voice no louder than a mutter.

"I'll take Tsunayoshi in for the time being." Everyone's faces froze, shocked that Hibari, _Hibari Kyoya_ of all people, wanted to take him in.

It was silent for a while. A long while.

_Too _long.

At that moment, Gokudera spoke up.

"It's my job to take care of the tenth. He can come with me on my mission." But Hibari argued him. He wanted none of that.

"I just finished my mission. He'll come home with me today." Hibari didn't know why he cared. Honestly, Tsunayoshi was just another Herbivore. He was a stronger herbivore, but a herbivore nevertheless.

But seeing the grateful yet fearful look on that boy's face did not make him regret his decision. Well, except for the fear. That just irritated him.

When he spoke up, everybody else, well, shut up. No one volunteered anymore, much less that someone like _Hibari_ did so.

That's why at six in the evening, Tsuna was staring at Hibari in his white robe instead of standing in the cold night of Japan.

Along the way to Hibari's house, Tsuna had thanked Hibari countless times, but each time he had brushed it off. He acted like it was only natural to take a person like _him_ into his home.

_Even though the man left him in the cold to fend for himself no more than twenty-four hours ago._

Immediately, Hibari's dark eyes trained on him, Tsuna on his carpeted living room floor, staring at him like he had six heads instead of only one.

And then he walked away, waving an absentminded hand to the direction he just came from.

"The Bathroom's free."

* * *

**A/R:** I pretty much changed the flashback. It contradicted with not only Hibari's personality, but the nature of my story as well. I didn't make a big deal out of this chapter because one: my first chapters are ALWAYS rocky, and two: this part of the story really isn't the main..mm..punch. You know what I'm talking about? Like, it's the drink that you would get when you first walk into a restaurant.

...

Yes, it is that shallow.

Hopefully, it makes more sense now. Hope you review and tell me what you think.


	2. Unwanted Discovery

Permanent Error

Rated: T

A/R: First off, I would like to thank those who favored, followed, and reviewed. Some unexpected things happened and my chapter was delayed very badly. So to make up, look! About 2300 words and more! So…thanks again! (**Also**, revisions are on the bottom for those who have already read this story. If you choose not to read it, you will be surprised with the curve this story takes.)

Summary:Directly after the war with Byakuran, we all know that Tsuna is supposed to go back to his own time, right? Well, that doesn't happen. Imagine the horror of Tsuna when he comes to find out that he wasn't transported to Present Japan; he instead transported to Italy in the same time period, where Hibari Kyoya is carrying out an important mission! Not only that, but for some reason, he can't get back home. For some reason, the time snapped between the future and the past. And what everyone does not realize is that if they don't find a solution to the mistake and fast, Tsuna might be stuck in the future forever.

Tsuna, in the meantime, has to stay over someone's house. The base is all fine and dandy, but Reborn and the others aren't there to take care of him. They're all back in their _usual_ time. So guess who he has to stay with. _Guess_. You're probably right.

Warnings: May be OOC

Disclaimer: If I owned Katekyo…I would be sitting in a fine n' dandy in a seat of pure gold…or at least in platinum? No, if I owned Katekyo, there would be no reason for this Fanfiction, because it would be the sequel of this anime! :D

* * *

Nervously, Tsuna walked into Hibari's steamed bathroom and stared in awe of the beauty of his walls, his bath tub, his sink…and his toilet.

Oh yes, Hibari's _toilet_.

It was of fine silver and a glass material. The handle was fragile and the seat was well-kept and clean. It was something to be _adored_.

It was at that moment that Tsuna realized that this was getting way out of hand. Adoring a toilet? Something that you stool and piss in? That's…just… _odd_.

Ignoring his petty and meaningless thoughts, Tsuna turned to the rest of Hibari's bathroom. The walls of his bathroom had diamond shapes along the sides of the tub, and outside of his tub (which was also sparkling), lines and patterns flitted along the walls. The patterns were complex, like something you would find out of a museum. And strangely, it was just like Hibari.

Tsuna was used to a shower and bathroom in general being plain and maindain, with a bleary white color and maybe a tan color for walls. But this…this was like culture shock on steroids. This was too exotic for someone like him.

Slowly, Tsuna moved towards the gigantic bathtub, and with shaking hands, squeezed his hands around the faucets until water started to spew out like a hose. When scalding water licked his hand viciously, he snapped it back with a small whine, blowing his hand softly to get it to stop throbbing. Once it did, he then turned the left faucet, which was labeled "COLD!"

After ten minutes of this pattern, Tsuna scrubbed himself down, washed off the soap suds, and climbed into Hibari's spanking-fresh tub.

_Think of the trouble I'd get into if Hibari-san found dirt particles on the bottom of his tub_, Tsuna thought warily, thinking of the scowl Hibari would somehow etch onto his face. When Hibari's scolding, angry, I'm-about-to-hit-you-you-annoying-dirty-herbivore face came into his mind, he cringed.

"I definitely do not want that."

Lying back in the tub, Tsuna tried to think of a way out of this hell he managed to get himself into. But as soon as he tried to, Reborn's childish voice came into his head.

"_Thinking isn't like you, Tsuna. Leave the thinking to the rest of us, and do what you think is best."_

Tsuna sighed as he sunk into the clear water, his hair coming out of the mop that is on his head, and down his shoulders.

"Reborn isn't here to help me, and I can't have Hibari-san take care of me forever…" _Especially since his patience with me will wear out sooner than later. I'm only lucky that he took me in at all. I really didn't want to become one of Verde's experiments, and I would probably mess up his mission...  
_

Tsuna could hear the deepened voice of his friend chuckling in his ear as he would cheerfully say:

_"Of course not, Tenth! You are the Tenth after all! You would be an amazing asset in stregnth and skill!"_

Sighing again, Tsuna sunk deeper into the water, making bubbling noises with his lips.

_Mom…Reborn…Kyoko-chan…I miss you all already…_

* * *

Hibari was sitting in the living room with a book on his lap when the front porch bell rang.

The bell rang yet again, once again disturbing Hibari from his readings. Again, Hibari only glanced at the door before reading again.

"Kyoya, I know you're there. Can't you open the door? It's not exactly the warmest out here," a familiar muffled voice asked behind the door. Glaring at the door, Hibari got up, shutting his book with an infinite _slap_. He placed the book on the round table next to him, and got up to approach the door.

"What do you want?"

"If you open up, I'll tell you," the voice said carefully. So against his better judgment, Hibari did just that: he opened up the door for the person on the other side. The first thing Hibari saw that made him cringe was a mop of blond cropped hair.

"What is it that you want at this time of the night?" The man laughed, pushing his short hair out of his eye.

"Do I have to want something just to see you?" Hibari's eyes narrowed, and slowly his body started to take a defensive pose in front of his door.

"Seventy-seven percent of the time, you come here to assign work to me. Three percent of the time, you alleviate your worries by coming to me for 'personal relief'. And then the rest of the time, incidentally twenty-percent, you come _just to see me_. So which is it?"

"Now now, Kyoya," the blond man interjected with a playful tone, amused he managed to calculate that in his head so fast. "It's not as bad as you make it. Besides, it's a bit more than twenty-percent, don't you think?" When Kyoya didn't say anything, the blond man continued, laying a slim hand on his hip.

"And…" he came closer to his friend, staring directly into Hibari's silted ones, the playfulness dying from his eyes.

"I thought you didn't care if I came to you for work or pleasure."

"I don't," Hibari quickly snapped, "but if you're going to come to my house at almost eleven at night simply to give me work, I will bite you to death."

Again the older man laughed happily.

"Okay then. I'm here to see Tsunayoshi-kun. Which category would that fall into?" Hibari didn't say anything; he only moved to the side as he retreated back into his living room.

"None."

* * *

After a while, Tsuna finally got out of the bathroom—that is, before he scrubbed the place down until it sparkled like before. He came out of the bathroom with a hand towel around his neck, and a bath towel around his thin waist. His cheeks were flushed, and if one saw him now, they would probably think that he had a fever. They would tell him to get rest, to take medicine, maybe to even take a chill pill.

Well, everyone besides Hibari, of course.

Tsuna sighed as he looked across the empty hallways, seeing not a single individual.

Idly, Tsuna wondered where Hibari was. Although he was here for a few hours, this wasn't exactly one of the smallest houses. Without Hibari, he could get lost quite easily, and he really didn't want that, especially because Hibari might get mad at him.

But more importantly, he wondered how everyone was faring in the present.

After a while, he walked to his room, put on a raggedy set of pajama pants and a v-shirt, and walked back out to the living room.

Almost frantically, Tsuna started to pace back and forth, looking up occasionally to see if Hibari was there or not. His eyebrows became crinkled with time and his eyes almost became watery, giving him an almost puppyish look.

But that all stopped when a muscular hand clasped onto his shoulder.

Tsuna jumped back from the foreign touch, his face closely resembling that of the puffed tail of a threatened cat. But that immediately died down when he saw who the hand belonged to.

"Oh, Hibari-san..." Hibari didn't reply to Tsuna's almost relieved sentence; he merely turned, jerking his head once to signal Tsuna to follow him.

But Tsuna, oblivious as ever, simply stood there with that same watery look in his eyes. Hibari stopped, turned his body all of the way around, and then called out properly to Tsuna.

"Must I clarify myself? Come, Tsunayoshi Sawada." After another pause, Tsuna followed him, both of their footsteps making a muffled beat on the floor. It was quiet, too quiet, and Tsuna felt that the atmosphere was heavy and tense. He tried to clear it up by saying something to lighten the mood, but it seemed to make the atmosphere worse.

"Um…Hibari-san, where are we going?" Hibari didn't say a word to him, although he did glance back briefly as the two walked down the seemingly endless hallway. He slid one door open, and then another, and then another and another and—

"Is he here?" When the two approached the last door, a voice spoke up. But because Tsuna was in back of Hibari—or rather, Hibari was in front of Tsuna. He could not see who the voice belonged to…although he longed to. The voice seemed to have struck a low cord in Tsuna, and it seemed to be far from foreign to the boy.

"Do as you wish with him. I do not have a use for him as of yet." The man chuckled happily as he seemed to approach Hibari. Tsuna couldn't see it, but he heard it, he smelled it—the sweet yet alluring smell of honey—he felt it. He s_ensed_ it.

"I'm sure you don't mean that, Kyoya. You just got him. Surely you have some sort of purpose for him?"

"I will not repeat myself." The man thought for a second, hummed in the back of his throat, and then asked Hibari another question.

"When will you start training him?"

"Tomorrow morning, unless things change." The man gasped softly.

"Don't you think you're being a bit too hard on him? A while ago, he just defeated Byakuran…"

"If Sawada Tsunayoshi is to stay here," Hibari explained curtly, his patience wearing thin, "then he must start training so he may assist me. I will not tolerate laziness in my presence." Hibari then moved forward, and Tsuna moved right behind him, just so he could see the mystery man's face.

"Will you still have him assist you even with the information I have gave you?" The two of them paused—the man and Hibari—and silence was left in their mist.

But Hibari broke it with a single word.

"No." Afterwards, Hibari turned to Tsuna, spared him a glance before he moved away from the door. As he did, Tsuna looked to see who it was that Hibari was talking to—although he felt guilt pricking him in the side at his prodding. At first sight, a mop of dirty blond hair greeted his eyes.

"Hey, Tsuna." At once, the voice and the hair connected, and Tsuna's brown eyes grew wide. The boy rushed over with a big smile capturing half of his face as he exclaimed,

"Dino-san!"

* * *

Once the two were acquainted with each other once more, Dino suggested that he sat down with a soft smile.

"Why don't you sit down? I have something important to tell you." Tsuna complied with the older man's wishes, and he berated himself at the same time that he could not remember his friend's voice. The fact that he was slightly older shouldn't matter; he should still remember what his old friend sounded like.

"Tsuna…I'm guessing the reason why you're here is because Kyoya pushed for it?" The boy nodded, fidgeting as he thought about it.

"Hibari-san brought me here partially because I…"_ had nowhere to go_, is what Tsuna was going to say, but that wasn't entirely true. Verde, Kyohei, and Gokudera all volunteered to take care of him, but he decided to go with Hibari.

_…wanted to stay at a comfortable place_… No, that wouldn't do either. Everyone's house was comfortable as long as it had a roof, a bed, heat, and some food to eat…and Ryohei offered. But he turned it down in fear of being a burden.

"…he wanted to train me..." He couldn't properly explain why he wanted to go with Hibari. Hibari intimidated him, he really did. The way he glared at him, the way that he seemed to understand what he was thinking, the way that his eyes seemed to peer into one's soul...all of that scared him. But yet, he was here with him now. Hibari wasn't talking to him (which, he would definetly fix that, Tsuna decided), but he wasn't outright ignoring him all of the time either. It was more like he was tolerating him. That's good. It's only been a few hours, after all.

But it looks like it won't be that way forever.

"Well either way, you'll have to stay a lot longer, so if you want, we can move you somewhere else," Dino replied, scratching his head.

"Eh? Why?" Tsuna cocked him head to the side, slightly perplexed as to why he would say such a thing. Was it that someone broke the time machine? But that didn't make sense. Not a lot of people had access to the time machine as it was. But maybe a foreign mafia group..? Great, now he was getting ahead of himself. Besides, if that were the case, that mean they would have to track them down, defeat them and...

_No_. Tsuna shivered mentally. He couldn't deal with something like that again. Not without Reborn.

"Spanner and Shoichi, after you left, decided to immediately investigate the problem. It took them a few hours, but they managed to find it. As for the problem, well, it lies not in the time machine... not exactly." The young boy bit his lip.

"What...do you mean, 'not exactly'?" Dino sighed, pushing his trimmed dirty blond hair above his forehead.

"It's more like...you _can't_ go to the past." The brunette's eyes widened as those words sunk into his brain like a bag of bricks onto thick sand.

"I get it," Tsuna suddenly forced out quickly. "It's because of the time machine is broken. The time machine is fine itself, but someone broke it and now we need to find out-"

"Tsuna, listen to me," Dino interrupted. "The time machine itself is not broken. The problem lies with time. According to the time machine, the previous location that was requested access to is invalid. Because it is invalid, objects of that time cannot transport here, and nothing can interfere with that void space in time. If forced, the boundary that exists within periods of time will collide, and the constant speed of time each world has will become irregular. This, in turn, will cause the normal aging process to either accelerate or slow down, depending on the genetic makeup of that individual or organism."

"..."

"That means two things," Dino continued, seeing the puzzlement on Tsuna's face. "The first is that if you were to enter your original timeline at this time, the people and things around you will either rapidly age and die, or will cease the speed of growth. That could mean that someone could stay in their teens or twenties for decades, or someone could drop dead in front of you in seconds."

Tsuna sputtered. That made no sense. Before when he went back and forth in and out of time, nothing happened. So why now? Why, when he wants to finally go home, does this have to happen?

"Why?"

"We are not sure yet," Dino whispered. "But we do know that if we send you back now, there is a possibility that your famiglia could be in danger of the aging processes' effects. This does include those related to you, such as Nana and Ieymisu."

_Mom and Dad...? Them too?_ _That means...Reborn...Gokudera...Yamamoto...Kyoko...Har u...Chrome...Mukuro...Ryohei...Lambo...what would happen to all of them?_

"This is not limited to just those in Namimori. This is everyone across the globe, so before we can even think of a solution, we have to investigate the 'formal state' of time."

It was quiet when he said that. Tsuna didn't have anything to say; he was too caught up in his thoughts to really say anything. The fact that he would never see anyone he knew again upset him. His mother, his friends, his family...they were all stuck in the past.

"Y-you said there were two things," Tsuna mumbled under his breath. He tried to keep his feeling under control, but to no avail. His voice still shook, and his fingers started to tremble. He thought this would be a day at most away, a week at it's worst. But this kind of thing? It could be months if not years until he saw his present-day family again.

"What was the second thing?" Dino didn't say anything to that for a long while; he kept his mouth shut for the longest of times. Only the shuffling of clothes was heard, and even that was muffled by the eerie melody of silence.

"The second thing...you won't like at all. Tsuna...I told you that the time machine considers your time invalid." Tsuna nodded as he listened intently to Dino, and watched how his rather sympathetic face grew remorseful. He chewed his lips in anxiety, waiting to hear what his friend was going to say.

But then his mind became blank when he heard his next words.

"As far as the time machine is concerned, your time period, ten years ago, doesn't even _exist_."

* * *

A/R: AHH! It got so serious so quickly! Noo, don't run away! It'll get better! Me swears! (Excuse my grammar... XP) Things will get better for Tsuna. Promise.

Review Plz! I get my courage (and energy) from y'all!

**EDIT**: Due to a certain reader, I edited some things. Thanks!

And, um, I looked at my first chapter before I edited it. And then I cringed. How could you guys READ that and not say a thing? I know it was my first fanfiction chapter and all, but GOD it was terrible...I hoped I made it better, I really do. Some things didn't make sence, some things contradicted, and other things were OOC enough to make me barf.

Yep, the writings of Syn'ph...


	3. Back to the Future (I)

Permanent Error

Rated: T

A/R: I really give thanks for everyone who has read this story and followed... (Does anyone even care anymore lol? I am so worried this story is fruitless…) I hope everyone continues to do so, especially because I am not sure of this chapter…I actually think it's really bad, but I can't think of anything else to write instead. And…um…I thought it would be interesting to see the viewpoints of Reborn and the others in the present-day world. If you don't want this, you can skip this chapter. I will try to upload the second part to this chapter, so I won't have to update for a while. I actually have two SAT tests coming up, and I have to study for them (not to mention an entrance-exam test next week). So if you haven't heard from me yet, please forgive me…I am just very busy.

I also heard someone talk about the angst level…sorry about that. This is an adventure/romance, not angst/romance. I will make sure to turn down the turmoil a few notches. So please stick with me, okay? And thanks for your (specific) feedback! :D

Warnings: May be OOC, may be Rocky, spelling errors (?)

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Because…um…I can't draw like her…and um…yeah. But I CAN make a Fanfiction filled with my desires! Hence, this story! *big smile*

* * *

Everyone was at the shrine, waiting patiently for Tsuna's return. In fact, they have been waiting for the last two days (maybe not actively, but waiting nevertheless) for Tsuna's return. Once everyone had informed and greeted their families formally, they had met back at the shrine to wait for Tsuna…who didn't come back for two—no, almost _three_ days. They stayed there until Reborn gave them further instructions on what to do, and just as a precaution, Reborn asked around for Tsuna. It was only when, a little while later, Nana said she still had not seen any sign of Tsuna that he became worried.

Everyone else was just as worried.

"Reborn-san!" Gokudera walked towards the infant with a panicked expression on his face. His eyebrows were wrinkled, and his voice shook with worry.

"The Tenth isn't back yet! Can we_ please_ look around for him now?"

"Not yet," Reborn muttered. "We should wait it out a little longer."

"That's what you say," Lal Mirch commented, watching Reborn's rapidly tapping foot, "but that's not what it looks like. It looks like you would go through hell to get him yourself. We might as well as just separate, find him, and get it over with." When Reborn didn't answer her, everyone stared at him, expecting him to say something—anything.

But he didn't, and just continued to think to himself.

_He should have been back already_, Reborn thought with a frown. _What went wrong back there?_ He bounced his foot harder.

_What's keeping him?_

"Maybe Tsuna-kun got lost," Kyoko suggested softly. "If we were to look for him, one of us would find him."

"Even if he were to be lost," Reborn replied somewhat impatiently, flicking the tip of his fedora from his face, "he still should have been brought to this location. For him not to be here means something went wrong on the other side."

"You think it's the time machine?" The infant thought about the odds carefully before shaking his head.

"It transferred everyone else safely. I don't think that's it."

Kyoko, Haru, and Chrome listened quietly to Reborn's points. They, too, were becoming slowly worried. It would be better to just listen and devise a plan from Reborn's comments.

But some, namely Gokudera, didn't do this. Instead, he irritably yelled in frustration.

"Then what _is_ it, Reborn-san?! You're saying it's not the time machine. It can't be Byakuran and the Millifiore, because the Tenth defeated them! What other option is there?!"

"Maybe it's a foreign famiglia," Chrome whispered, glancing every so often at Gokudera and Yamamoto, who was right next to him.

But Lal Mirch quickly shot her idea down. "That isn't possible. At this point in time, there isn't any family that would know about the time machine except for the Millifiore family, the Vongola family and any family that might be closely connected to us. That narrows down the list to maybe two or three families. And I doubt the foreign families would attack Tsuna simply because he was at the hideout."

"If everyone is so worried, how about we all go back in the future and look for Tsuna?" Yamamoto grinned at his idea, but he was worried as well, and because of that his grin was forced. After all, the worry seeped into his eyes and fell down his cheeks, and made his face feel like rubber.

"Let's just use Lambo's Ten-Year Bazooka. It would be better than just fruitlessly waiting for Tsuna to come." Lambo glanced up at Yamamoto, who then looked down at him. The usually noisy-child said nothing, did nothing; he simply watched what everyone would do while licking his three-inch lollipop.

"That would be a nice idea…if Lambo would only lend it to us…"

"No," Reborn stated. "I have a better idea. And if what's going on is as bad as I think, we may need a certain person here."

"Who?"

Reborn looked grim as he practically choked out, "Verde."

* * *

"Alright. I will try asking Shoichi and Spanner about Tsuna. But just in case, I want back-up. Gokudera and Yamamoto, I want you two to come with me." Reborn was next to a purple tube with a label on it—which was also known as the ten-year bazooka. When Reborn asked Lambo for the bazooka, he had given it up without much of a fight, mainly because he wanted to go back home again.

And even if he went back home to Tsuna's place…and even if Nana was there, if Tsuna wasn't there…then what was the point of going?

Gokudera grinned at the suggestion, obviously happy to go back to the future to get Tsuna. After Reborn told everyone his hypothesis on what he thinks might have happened, Gokudera became worried and rightfully so. If would be a darned shame if he never saw Tsuna again…

So when Reborn proposed him to go get Tsuna, he was more than happy.

"Okay, kid. Whenever you are ready," Yamamoto grinned. Reborn gave a short smile, and then turned to Chrome, who stared at him blankly.

"Chrome. What time is it?" The purple-haired girl glanced at her watch that Reborn lent to her for this exercise.

"Five minutes to three."

"Perfect. I will go in first, then Yamamoto, then Gokudera. I want you to do what I instructed. If we do not come back within the allotted time that I set up, contact Viper to contact Verde. Understood?" She nodded.

With a small '_oomph_', Reborn jumped into the ten-year bazooka, and from the purple tube came pink smoke. Honestly, they weren't expecting anyone. But when Yamamoto was about to go in, a deep voice stopped him.

"Stay right where you are." Everyone froze, including Lal Mirch, who would have never expected the voice.

As the smoke cleared up, a tall figure was standing in front of the bazooka. He was lean, and in his hand was an object that suspiciously looked like a gun. He wore something akin to a hat—or it could have very well have been a hat, but that was uncertain because of the fog.

"I'm guessing this is ten-years in the past, eh?" As soon as the fog fully cleared up, almost everyone gasped except for Hibari, whose eyes bored into the man's head.

"A-are you Reborn?" The man's eyes peered at his rather small crowd. Kyoko, Haru, Hibari, Chrome, Ryohei, Gokudera, Yamamoto and Lal Mirch stared at him like he had three heads. Everything was the same about Reborn, including the hat, and Leon sitting calmly on the edge of it. The only thing that was different, that very few noticed, was the scar on his hand…

"Yes. I am." He was about to take a step forward when Lal Mirch glared at him.

"That's not possible! Reborn, like the rest of us, is under that _thing_ that god knows when it will come off! Even if it is ten-years into the future, his body should still be the same!"

"That changed," Reborn muttered, "since things…happened. I am not allowed to say, because that might change the future. But we do get released from _it_." The tall man sat down before them, and everyone was slightly intimidated, if not afraid. But the Reborn of ten years in the future didn't do anything to harm them; he merely sat there, observing everyone's actions. Finally, after five or so minutes of silence, he said,

"You shouldn't go into the future."

"Well, we were just about to," Gokudera snapped. "The Tenth has been missing for almost three days, and everyone is worried sick. You can't just tell us to sit still!"

"Tsuna is fine," Reborn replied. "In fact, he is with Hibari right now. He is training Tsuna, because Tsuna is going to go on a mission with him."

"With Hibari?!" Gokudera scoffed. "There is no way that is possible. Hibari—"

"Well, he is," Reborn interrupted. "Tsuna is worried about this whole thing just like you are, and Hibari is using his missions as a means for him to stop thinking about it." He sighed. "Apparently, Tsuna can't come back to this world. It would be better if you didn't go to the future either. I was talking to Dino about it, but then I got switched with Reborn ten-years prior. He is probably talking to Dino in my place."

Ryohei spoke up after a while, his voice loud and boorish. "You still haven't told us. Why can't Sawada come back here?!"

"That—I can't say specifically. It has to do with the time space, though."

Lal glared at him again, staring at his relaxed pose and his gun in his hand. "What happened with time that Sawada can't come here? Before this, the time was fine. Everyone was able to transport safely back and forth, but now all of a sudden he can't transport back to his own time?"

"That's exactly right. He can't transport to his own time 'all of a sudden'. As for the cause…well, Shoichi and Spanner are investigating that." The man sighed, picking at his teeth with a wooden stick that had been in his mouth for the last two hours. He did that as an unconscious habit; whenever he was annoyed or he was irritated or pressured, he did that. He didn't even realize when he did, it was just…normal.

"So, is Tsuna coming back anytime soon?"

"I don't know. There are no signs that this problem will be resolved anytime soon. It could take weeks, if not months to fix this problem. As it is, if he were to come here now, the time frame would be all screwed up."

"Messed up time frame? You mean like time speeding up?" The older man bit his tongue.

"Kind of…in any case, you can't go into the future. If you do, you'll mess up everything. Its bad enough I went there in my past self. But if I can just stay still, it probably won't have an adverse effect."

Kyoko stared in wonder at him. "Then, would you be able to tell us how much time has passed in the future?" He nodded at her.

"At least a week has passed in the future since the problem. I'm assuming two days has passed here?"

"Three days," Haru corrected. She shifted from one foot to the other, sadly looking at the ground.

"I hope this is resolved soon. I can't bear the thought of not seeing Tsuna-san again."

"Hopefully," Reborn agreed. "But for now, just sit here and wait. Everything will be fine. Tsuna is safe, which is the most important thing right now."

"But what about the other Reborn?" Gokudera looked again at the bazooka. "We were supposed to go with him for back-up."

"The me of the past won't need that." He glanced up into the sky, watching as the clouds moved slowly from side to side.

"He won't need that at all…"

* * *

With a push, Reborn flung out of the bazooka. He glanced side to side quickly to see anything of relevance, to see anything that looked familiar, but there was nothing that he could spot.

But what he did notice was that his body felt strange.

It felt as if something was stretching out his body, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

He paid it no mind, partially because he had a job to do, and partially because he was waiting for Gokudera and Yamamoto to show up. Immediately after his arrival, a rustle from the far left of him was heard, and he quickly held up Leon, who transferred into a gun.

"Who's there?"

The rustling stopped, and instead a voice was heard.

"Always as cautious as ever, Reborn." The infant gave all his attention to the person to the right, only to discover his old friend of many years standing up and approaching him with a soft smile on his face.

"Dino." The baby let his guard down and walked to him. He glanced around for an object he could use as a seat and quickly spotted his eyes on a beige couch right next to the man. He jumped up as high as he could, sitting on the edge of the seat. Dino sat down as well, observing Reborn with calm eyes.

"What brings you here? Do you want something to drink?"

"Don't start," the brunette warned. "I am not in the mood."

Dino looked slightly surprised at that, but he didn't say anything as he waited for Reborn to continue.

"I didn't come here for tea and crumpets. I came for information. And what I want to know is…where's Tsuna?"

"Oh, Tsuna? He's with Kyoya," the blond man replied casually.

"While Spanner and Shoichi are looking for the solution to this…problem, Tsuna had to stay with someone. The base…was a wreck, and so Tsuna couldn't stay there. They asked if Tsuna could stay with someone, and although a few people volunteered, Tsuna ultimately stayed with Kyoya. It wasn't bad either, though Kyoya still expressed a cold shoulder to Tsuna. My lil' bro handled it well though, so they were able to get along pretty well. But after the second day of staying there, Tsuna started to become a little depressed, and as a result, became quieter…much too quiet for his and their liking. I guess it's because I told him the truth."

Reborn's ears perked up at that statement. "The truth about what?"

"Well…" The younger man scratched his head. "I told him the reason why he couldn't go home. Afterwards, I left, and from what I heard from Kusakabe, he locked himself in the guest room for half the day."

Reborn thought carefully, tipping his hat unconsciously and biting the inside of his cheek.

"Why can't he get home?"

"You can't, either," Dino mumbled. He had said it so low that if Reborn had spoken any louder, he might not have heard it.

"Why can't I?" Dino bowed his head, still mumbling. Perhaps he was afraid of getting an irritated reaction from Reborn.

"Once you got into this world, you, like Tsuna, could no longer go back. Well, at least until we fix this problem. The you of ten years is probably trying to persuade the rest of Tsuna's family not to come."

"Why?"

"Because…" And then for the next twenty minutes, Dino explained what happened to their world like how he did Tsuna. But unlike Tsuna, Reborn did not show any emotion. He simply sat there and took it all in, without letting a single detail go.

"Think of it as a remote connection with two computers," Dino used as an analogy.

"When you remotely connect into another computer, the feedback between the two is equal. You can do one thing, and the computer, maybe the host, can see it. But perhaps the computer you wish to connect to be damaged. Or maybe, the computer is turned off and the user forgot to turn it on. No matter how much you try to connect to it, you will not be able to connect into the computer you desire. Think of it like that. Right now, the connection between this world and the world ten years ago is cut. If we were to try and force Tsuna to go back in time, he might not make it—and fall into the 'void' between worlds. And if he does make it..."

"He'll affect those around him because he doesn't belong there at this time," Reborn finished.

"Right. So now he's pretty much upset about it, and he thinks that he'll never see anyone else again. I tried to comfort him, but it's obvious that he's still worried about it."

"Hm…" Reborn thought for another moment, and then he jumped off of the couch with a _thump_.

"Sorry I snapped at you earlier." Dino smiled at him, at least happy that Reborn's aura (and mood) was lighter.

"It's okay. You were worried, and rightfully so. Where are you going now?" The infant flicked his fedora for the umpteenth time, and he glanced at a window at the far side of the room.

"I want to see Tsuna. Do you have any idea where Hibari's house is?" Dino's smile became wider as he stood up and started to walk out the room of what looked like an apartment.

"That's the place I know best. Hop on."

* * *

**A/R:** OH MY GOOOOD! It was soo rocky! Please excuse this chapter! I know the opening was sooo bad, but I didn't know what to do. Then I was like, screw the script, let me write from the heart…and eventually it smoothed down. I am not sure if it is good though, so I hope you guys comment and say what's on _your_ heart. Is it good? Is it bad? Should I replace it for the original after all? I like this one better, but who knows? Maybe you all would have liked the other version.

Lambo…I kinda felt bad when I had to mellow him down. I like Lambo noisy and bossy. He is just sooo cute. But if I made him yell and scream, I thought he might go reeeeaaalllly OOC. So I just kept him mellow. Did it work? Was it too bad?

(Also! This is the last truly angst-filled chapter! ~ I promise the next one will be a fluffy one! Watch!)

Replies to Anon:

**Swanfrost15:** Yes, I did change some things. But I said in my A/R (as dumb as it is...) that for those who already read this chapter to scroll to the bottom. But thanks! 8D I wasn't sure of it was going to work, but the original idea I had was kind of dumb...so I thought a cute little plot bunny would be better instead. ^-^

Anyways! Please Review! I thrive off of your comments!


	4. Strife's Melody

Permanent Error

Rated: T

Warning: really light scenes of 1827. Oh, and possible OOCness (Especially on Hibari's part), Kind of Long….

A/R: I have to admit this is a maybe-sorta-filler. There are some aspects that are filler-ish about this chapter. But there is some information that is in here that (some of you might catch) you won't get later…not to mention it will start to get a little violent after the next chapter. Speaking of violent, I don't want to spoil it, but some parts of this story was a little hard for me to write. So have mercy on me, will you?

Disclaimer: I-D-O-N-O-T-O-W-N! I Do Not Own! Yeah!

…

Think I could go for cheerleading? No? Aww, what a shame.

Anyways, I don't own, so…yeah…I don't want to see any infringement letters…or anything having to do with…you know…

* * *

Tsuna was in the grand guest room, lying on his stomach with his head turned to the side. No matter how much that position hurt and strained his neck, he always did it out of habit when he was stressed—and this time was no exception.

When he thought about it, a lot has happened since the first day he came. After he moved in with Hibari, he pretty much did nothing but clean and wonder around Namimori. In the night time, Dino had came to him and told him…the news…which…

He sniffed. He still can't believe that his world no longer exists. But…he can't stay depressed about it forever.

Yes, part of the reason why he was upset was because he couldn't see his friends and family again. But the other reason was because he worked so hard to get back home—only for him to be permanently stuck here.

_Defeating Shoichi…meeting the first set of Vongola Guardians…defeating Byakuran…all of that wasted. Then what was the point? Yeah, saving the world was important. But isn't this important too?_

He sighed again as he thought about how his training for his mission with Hibari has been going. It hasn't been going well, and according to Dino they were supposed to go to the mission's location in no less than two days.

But imagine if a real battle went like the training Hibari had been giving him. He would die in seconds.

"_Fight properly, Sawada Tsunayoshi," the older man growled with irritation, "and stop fighting like a herbivore." He had struck Tsuna so many times that by the time he made that statement, Tsuna was already staggering left and right. His vision started to become blurry, and finally he collapsed with a thump._

_With disgust in his eyes (because his face was painfully blank), he turned away from the heavily breathing boy._

"_Depart from me. I will not train you when you cannot fight to your full potential." He started to walk back to the main part of his house to recover his energy. It wasn't much energy that he burned, but he still needed all of his energy for the mission._

_But Tsuna didn't want to stop. He wanted to continue his training—even if it meant pushing himself to the limits._

"_I-I can still go on." He shakily started to gain his balance, and slowly he stood up._

"_No, you can't." With brilliant speed, Hibari lifted his hand to strike Tsuna with the edge of his right tong. But when Tsuna was an inch away from blocking the attack, the Dying Will flames extinguished into thin air, and immediately he fainted in exhaustion._

Remembering that, Tsuna tilted his head to the side.

"How did I get here anyways? And where did Hibari-san go?"

Almost as if fate had heard him right then and there, a knock was heard at the door. It was to the very left of the grand room, right next to a computer that Tsuna was not sure if it was intended for him or not. (He never used it as a result, which Hibari was very agitated at, since it was specifically made for him…)

Tsuna glanced at it for a split second before mumbling:

"It's open." The door cracked open with a whine and behind it was Hibari. He started forward into the room, and his socks thumped against the floor. When he was finally in front of Tsuna, he glared down at him.

"Come to the training room. As you know, we have the mission in a few days. We have to negotiate with the Parisi famiglia regarding a few...documents. They are related to the Shimon famiglia—one family that you were once familiar with." His eyes clouded over for a split second before it cleared up again.

"In case anything goes wrong, you need to be there as back-up." Tsuna opened his mouth to object, to say that maybe he wasn't good enough for the job, but Hibari's dark glare stopped him right in his tracks, and instead of saying anything, Tsuna's mouth simply closed back shut. Once Hibari finished his points, he turned back around and started to walk back to the door.

"Come in no more than five minutes. If you take any longer than that…" he glared once more at Tsuna, who had to fight not to let the shiver down his spine become visible, "I will bite you to death."

* * *

True to his word, Tsuna was in the training room in no more than five minutes. Some might argue he was there exactly on time. And as soon as he got there, ate the blue pill that would activate his Hyper Mode, Hibari started to attack.

He thrust his tongs directly at Tsuna's face, and judging from the proximity of the attack, it wasn't meant to hit, but to intimidate.

And intimidate it did.

Tsuna reciprocated with a punch that didn't quite solidify, but it did make contact with Hibari's shoulder.

"That isn't good enough." He blocked Tsuna's so-called attack, and moved in to give one of his own. It was like everything was in slow motion. Hibari's fist—not the tongs—connected with Tsuna's chest. With a flying spin, Tsuna practically flew in the wall, but luckily he managed to keep his back as a safe-cushion.

The gravel around Tsuna cracked into a few hundred pieces as Tsuna adjusted his position. With a burst of energy, he pushed himself off of the wall using his pure flames, and charged himself at the older man. He placed his hands in front of him, and positioned himself as a rocket. It was supposed to position himself to push back Hibari. Unfortunately, that didn't work as well as he thought it would have.

Instead, he spread his legs to kick the man, but instead, Hibari caught one of his legs.

"Faster," he advised with a blank expression on his face. After, with amazing speed and strength, he threw Tsuna into another side of the training room, a side that didn't have jagged pieces of gravel imbedded into it.

Tsuna gasped in pain as the force of Hibari's throw hit him head on, and took the energy and air out of him. He had wanted to give up, maybe to even lay there and take in the pain, but he had learned from Reborn that it wouldn't be of any profit to give up, and so after staggering for a few minutes, he got up and attempted to punch Hibari in the face.

But again, Hibari caught it.

"Do it harder." Again, Tsuna threw a punch, this time aiming at Hibari's chest.

"Still not good enough," he commented as he blocked it with a snappy motion. "Are you even trying?"

"Of course I am," Tsuna muttered before trying again in a different location.

The young Vongola leader clicked his tongue in irritation as Hibari caught his fire-covered glove once more, and with a burst of energy, he used Hibari's hold on his hand as a leverage to pull himself up, and threw himself up to kick him in the head.

"You're finally starting to get it." Although Hibari dodged his foot, the wind and heat from Tsuna's attack peeled a small portion of the skin on Hibari's cheek.

"But you're still not good enough." Immediately after the last attack, Hibari went on the offense and started to rapidly attack different parts of Tsuna's anatomy. By the grace of…whatever was up there in the sky, Tsuna managed to fend off most of Hibari's attacks, leaving him with only minor bruises. But of course, that wasn't the end of it.

The older man thrust one of his tongs towards Tsuna, and he barely had enough time to dodge it before a leg came to meet him in the stomach. Tsuna dodged it, but the air from the attack threw him back against the wall, and his body sunk into the gravel on impact.

"Get back up." Unlike the previous time where Tsuna fought back weakly, sometimes even shakily, this time he lay there, not moving an inch. His face was downcast, and Hibari wasn't sure what to make up of his expression. Because of the bangs that covered his eyes, it looked like he had no expression.

The Cloud Guardian felt irritation bubbling in his gut like peroxide to a wound, and he charged forward to attack Tsuna. As far as he was concerned, the enemy would not give Tsuna another chance to live, so neither would he.

But at that moment, Tsuna suddenly got up and charged with his hands forward as his gloves lit up.

He was going to use a new technique, maybe a technique that could've defeated someone—_if_ it had not been Hibari. Because it was Hibari, he knew what Tsuna was going to do, and as soon as they got within an inch of each other, he threw a vicious kick in Tsuna's ribs.

The brunette _screamed_ in pain as he sunk into the ground, and made a dent in the floor. In that very moment, his Dying Will Flame cooled down, and his X-gloves transformed back into mere mufflers that were a little tinged.

Hibari walked towards Tsuna as he looked down at him with irritation. The irritation wasn't as high as before, but when he thought of how the present Tsuna was compared to this one…

It irritated him.

"Get up." When Tsuna didn't move, he picked up the boy by the arm and threw him across the room. Luckily, Tsuna gained consciousness at that moment, but unfortunately, the pain from Hibari's hit and from his ribs hindered him from moving too fast.

"I will not repeat myself, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Groaning lightly, the boy slowly got up, using his knees as a support to get up instead of his mid-section.

"I-I can still fight."

"No." Hibari glanced at the exit, which was about ten feet away from where he was standing. After, he glanced back at Tsuna, who had a lot of trouble keeping his balance.

"How long have you been training?" The boy thought for a second as he tiredly counted the hours.

"About…five days?" The man nodded.

"You will rest. It would be troublesome if you died." He started to walk slowly to the exit, watching the boy for any signs of fainting. But there was none, well, except for the fact that his voice was soft, and his balance was off, terribly. He staggered side to side as he tried to catch up with Hibari—with zero success.

"H-Hibari-san…" He took a deep breath as he tried to speak louder. But Hibari cut him off, sending him a side-glare. He actually_ stopped_ walking to stare Tsuna down, almost daring the boy to defy him. As soon as Tsuna kept his mouth shut, he started to walk out the room, but at the very last minute, he took a fleeting glance at the boy, who could barely stand up, much less walk to his room.

With a change of heart, he quickly walked up to Tsuna as he was about to fall, and immediately supported him with a slender and strong hand. The boy slumped on his stomach, at the same time weakly looking up at Hibari, who almost glowered down at him.

Tsuna felt the force of Hibari's power much stronger now that the two were closer, and like before, he had to fight down a shiver of fear when he looked up at the man. It was like if he was looking into the eyes of a wolf whose sole existence is that of a predator.

"I was going to leave you here," the adult muttered, "but on second thought, you will come with me. I want to show you something."

* * *

As soon as he righted Tsuna, he released him, and the boy was left to stumble on his own. But Hibari did wait at the exit, albeit with an impatient expression on his face. His mouth was twisted in a frown, and his thin eyebrows crinkled like paper. He might as well as tapped his foot at the same time. It would have made a wonderful addition to his body language of irritation.

Yep…

Tsuna hobbled to the exit, and the two walked side by side through the labyrinth of hallways. They made a turn here, there, everywhere, and Tsuna was almost dizzy with how many stops and turns and flips that they made.

When the colors of the walls started to change, Tsuna lightly asked,

"Are we there yet?" The boy wasn't expecting him to answer, and fully meeting his expectations, Hibari didn't. But he did look back and give him a curt nod.

Well…it wasn't a vocal answer, but it was an answer nevertheless.

After Tsuna's quiet response, the hallways became quiet, and Tsuna glanced at Hibari once more, who wouldn't even spare a second glance at him. He simply kept his head straight, observing anything and everything besides the boy that was right in back of him. And Tsuna had to admit that hurt just a tad bit. It wouldn't hurt if Hibari was more social, but since Hibari was an antisocial firefly, it was kind of to be expected.

Still…being somewhat ignored hurt. Tsuna was used to hearing someone talk, anyone talk…heck; he was used to hearing himself talk. But this quietness…although tranquil, was intimidating. He prayed to whatever deity that was out there that Hibari would do something other than walk—or, if he was blessed, to _say_ something.

Maybe it was because he saved the world, because whatever was out there listened to his prayers with a good ear and readily responded.

"We're here." Before Hibari was two metal doors, the kind that one would see in a jail cell. The doors had a black coating on it, and between the two doors was the Vongola emblem. It was painted in a crimson color, dripping to the bottom of the door, and Tsuna felt a small breeze travel down his body. For some reason, this door—if it could signify anything, it would signify death to him.

But when Hibari opened those petrifying doors, it was almost like heaven was beyond it.

Tsuna had to hold back a gasp when he saw what was in the room. It was a miniature-sized ballroom. As he walked in, he saw the many polished chairs of wood, the stainless glass that reflected Hibari and himself, the floors that seemed to reflect the room like a mirror, the velvet curtains that looked as delicate as silk, the chain lamp on top of the ceiling, and…a beautiful piano in the middle of the floor. The piano was the attraction of the room. It was black, but it shone like a white dove. Tsuna was enchanted by it, and who could blame him?

He slowly made his way to the piano, his eyes widened at the beauty of such an instrument. Yes, Gokudera had a piano that was about the size of this one, but this one was _so_ much more…more…

"That piano was one that you made." Hibari walked close to Tsuna and talked right above him. Flinching, Tsuna spun around.

"I-I did?"

"Yes, ten years from your time. At that time, we had a banquet every so often. During these banquets, Gokudera Hayato would play on the piano." The man sat down on the stool in front of the piano and started to finger the white keys of the piano. With a gentle tap, he pressed down on the C sharp key. He listened to the content melody it sang out, and then he moved to another key, the key of A.

"Sit here." Tsuna sat down without much complaint, partially because his legs ached, partially because of the beauty of the piano, and partially because he was afraid of what Hibari would do to him if he didn't. But he had nothing to fear. Hibari wouldn't have done anything to seriously injure him anyhow.

"This is the D key." He pressed a white key a few keys away from two keys that were stuck together. And after he did, he began to play a song, one that struck as familiar to the boy. But yet, Tsuna couldn't place a finger on it, and he cocked his head as he tried to figure out what it was.

"You suggested that a song was made for me, and the Bucking Bronco made the song by hand. He figured that the melody of this song suited me best." He grimaced as he thought about it, but he continued to play. His fingers only grazed the notes, not intending to dig in. And Tsuna noticed it right away.

"Did I teach you how to play as well?" Hibari didn't answer his question directly, but instead made a statement that could have been viewed as an answer.

"The Bucking Bronco was good at the piano. Once he stopped his foolishness, he actually could do something." He pressed on the last note hard, and it made a dark sound. But Hibari didn't mind it as he turned to Tsuna.

"Are you ready to return?" At first, Tsuna thought he meant to return to the past, but that was a ridiculous notion…especially since he had no way home at the moment.

"Before we go back…could you play me another song?" He glanced up at Hibari (especially since he looked at Hibari's fingers and the piano the whole time), and when he saw the dark look the man gave him, he decided to rephrase his words.

"I-I mean, could you please play for me? Of course, only if you want to…" He started to fidget, not even noticing the pain it sent up his spine to do so. All he noticed was Hibari's expression, and that seemed to reign above all else. But thankfully, Hibari's dark expression didn't last long, and instead a look of amusement replaced it.

"Are you interested in the piano?" The boy nodded.

"I never really have been exposed to classical music except for Gokudera-kun, who rarely played. So it's nice to hear it," he answered honestly.

"Why have you never asked Gokudera Hayato to play for you? You and I both know he would do anything for you." The man positioned himself so he would be facing towards Tsuna only slightly, perhaps so he could talk to him better without constantly looking to the side of him.

"I know Gokudera-kun would do a lot for me…but at the same time, I know that playing the piano sometimes brings back painful memories for him. I really don't want him to be in pain, and because of that I will never ask him. If he wants to show me, he will show me himself." He fingered one of the keys and watched as it sunk into a hole, making a low and deep sound at the same time.

After he said that, the two sat in silence, as they often would do. After a while, Tsuna thought Hibari wouldn't play after all, but at that moment, Hibari moved himself over the keys of the piano and started to stroke several of them at a time in a fast rhythm.

The young Vongola boss only sat and listened as Hibari would slow down to glance at Tsuna. But Tsuna didn't notice, because he was enchanted with the movements of Hibari's slender fingers.

Maybe it was five minutes…maybe longer before Hibari finally stopped.

"What song was that?" It came out as a whisper, but Hibari heard it and answered curtly.

"_Acursive_." He didn't offer any more information and Tsuna thought that Hibari had shut him out again.

"It was nice," the boy replied to the man's once-word answer. He wanted to keep the conversation going, if only to learn more about the man. The more he learned about him here, the better he would be able to handle him in the past.

But that didn't work. Hibari simply stared at him before standing up from the stool.

"I will not wait for you." He moved himself away from the stool and started to retreat from the ballroom. But Tsuna could not move as fast. He was, after all, still injured. The boy got up as well and started to hobble his way to Hibari.

Once he finally caught up to the tall man, he started to slow down. Again, he tried to make a conversation.

"Hibari-san?" The man didn't say anything, and Tsuna figured that was his cue to continue.

"I know that we are going to go on a mission soon, but when you have some free time…could you play the piano for me once in a while?" At that, the Cloud Guardian stopped walking completely. Tsuna was afraid the man would have snapped at him (like he did in the past), but the man simply looked at him. There was no malice or hate in his stare, just…wonder.

"Why is it that you wish for me to play?"

"I told you before that I have never really been exposed to music like that," Tsuna started, "so that's one. But the second reason is that I like the way you play." He smiled brightly as he said exactly what was on his mind, not once thinking of the consequences.

"You play with a certain emotion…and I like that." It was only after he said what he said that he thought of how Hibari would act to his confession. He quickly added, "But of course, you don't have to play, Hibari-san."

"No." Hibari kept on walking, and Tsuna's shoulders visibly slumped. One of the last connections to the Hibari of this world was broken, just like that. Great.

But as Tsuna shot a quick apologetic look at Hibari, he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.

His eyes.

His cold eyes that never softened like the clouds in the sky—actually held feelings. The icy mask that Hibari constantly wore was broken.

In his eyes held contentment.

"No," Hibari repeated. "I will play for you when the mood hits me."

And although the two said nothing after Hibari's…somewhat indirect 'yes' to Tsuna's hesitant question, it was fine. Tsuna was in a better mood, especially since he was able to successfully associate with Hibari, and Hibari…well…he was simply amused that Tsuna, the ten-years-younger Tsuna, said the same thing that _he_ would have. It was funny too, because it was in similar circumstances.

* * *

"_Hibari," he said. "That was a nice song. Did Dino teach you how to play that as well?"_

"_No," the man replied. "That Bucking Bronco is too lazy to teach me a damn thing. I made it myself." The man laughed as he stared happily at his companion's irritated face._

"_You're proud of it?" Hibari thought for a second before answering._

"_Why should I be proud of something that is not complete?" The other man blanched, looking at Hibari incredulously._

"_That was the incomplete version? I'm surprised." He adjusted himself on the stool as Hibari took his hands off of the piano's keys._

"_I am leaving now, if you have nothing else for me to do." He got up and started to walk briskly from the room…that is, until the man called him._

"_Wait, Hibari." He stopped in his step to briefly stare at the man._

"_What is it?"_

"_Wait for me." Hibari grimaced as he turned._

"_I don't wait for anybody."_

"_Please." At the somewhat demanding plead, the Cloud Guardian waited for him, impatiently shifting his weight from one foot to the other. When the other man finally caught up to him, the two walked together back to the main room, where the rest of the group would be arriving soon._

"_Hey, Hibari." The dark-haired male glanced at the other man, waiting for him to continue._

"_Next time we meet up, could you play for me?"_

"_No."_

"_Why not?" Instead of answering his question, Hibari answered a question with a question, a tactic that the other man was used to._

"_Why do you wish for me to play for you?" At that, the other man smirked lightly as he thought of Hibari's body language when he played on the piano._

"_You play with not only feeling, but with vigor. And…you play with a certain emotion that calms me. I like that." He grinned at the man whose face refused to change, and moved on. Strangely enough, the man kept quiet after that, watching Hibari's many emotions flit through his eyes. Hibari seemed to be emotionless, but he knew. Hibari had feelings like anyone else—besides irritation and anger—and right now he felt content. The man could sense it. _

_The two began to move closer and closer to the main room, and the man finally stated,_

"_You got to play for me again, alright? It's a promise." Hibari didn't say anything, but he did nod slightly. _

…

"It's a promise, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

* * *

THANKS FOR 50 FOLLOWS! I am sooo happy like you wouldn't believe it! Unfortunately, I won't be able to show my thanks until a later time. So...please be patient and stick with me, okay? I will make sure not to let you all down!


	5. Calm Before a Storm (I)

Permanent Error

Rated: T

Warnings: violence, slash, language, might be OOC (on Hibari's part), long chappy. I got tired near the end (Been up since three.) so forgive me.

Summary: Directly after the war with Byakuran, we all know that Tsuna is supposed to go back to his own time, right? Well, that doesn't happen. Imagine the horror of Tsuna when he comes to find out that he wasn't transported to Present Japan; he instead transported to Italy in the same time period, where Hibari Kyoya is carrying out an important mission! Not only that, but for some reason, he can't get back home. For some reason, the time snapped between the future and the past. And what everyone does not realize is that if they don't find a solution to the mistake and fast, Tsuna might be stuck in the future forever.

Tsuna, in the meantime, has to stay over someone's house. The base is all fine and dandy, but Reborn and the others aren't there to take care of him. They're all back in their _usual_ time. So guess who he has to stay with. _Guess_. You're probably right.

**A/R:** Um, two things: one, please proceed with caution from now on, especially for slash. I think the slash parts might be a little...I know it's in the future, but...yeah. The last are the flashbacks. The first is somewhat of a filler, but it has a few semi-important things in it. The second-you can skip if you wish. For anyone who has seen my profile prior to this chapter, you'll recognize it. But it's nothing important.

Also...I feel this chapter is a bit rocky. Please, have compassion on little ol' me, and tell me what you think. I feel my inspiration slipping a little, and I want to finish this story with a strong start and end.

And this thing...I tried to um...replace, and...um yeah. This isn't a new chapter. Just some more adjustments.

Disclaimer: I have five pets, four rooms on my first floor, three family members, two exams I still have to prepare for, one hungry stomach and no animes I own...

Objections?

* * *

"I think we are getting close." Dino and Reborn were just across the street from where Hibari and Tsuna stayed, and god, they were glad for it. They walked for hours-well, Dino walked for hours, and Reborn sat on his shoulder like the good old days-and they were finally starting to get tired of it.

"You think they are home?"

"Oh, I _know_ Kyoya's home," the blond man replied with a chuckle. "Especially since the mission is today, and he can't go anywhere without me." As if he were answering Reborn's silent question, he continued.

"I'm the only one who knows where the Parisi family is at this moment." As soon as Dino had departed the apartment with Reborn, Dino had explained their mission to him, as to keep him in the loop. Reborn would most like accompany them anyways, and Dino knew that if he hadn't explained it to him and he had just walked on the battle field like he always did, there would be a world of hurt...mostly on his behind.

* * *

_"We're supposed to take a little trip to the Parisi famiglia,"_ Dino had said, his charismatic voice ringing in Reborn's ears. _"They are having a little...trouble at this time with some paper work, and because the Tsuna of this time isn't available, Kyoya has to take his stead. I'm sure you can imagine how thrilled he was with this at first."_

_"Why couldn't Gokudera or Yamamoto do it?"_

_"That is...they are on other missions that Tsuna had gave them,"_ he had replied, as he had flicked a blond strand out of his eye. _"Before this whole thing with Byakuran and the Milifiore came up, they had missions, you know. To accomodate for the change in the mafia, Tsuna had to post-pone their missions. Now that things are back to normal, they returned back to their missions."  
_

_"Even though Tsuna isn't there?_" Reborn had been met with silence, but when Dino had finally spoke, it kind-of-sort-of answered his question.

_"It just shows how dedicated they are to their boss,"_ he had muttered. "_No matter how much I liked my boss, if I were a simple soldier, able to be replaced at a moment's notice, I admit, I wouldn't be so loyal. Especially if he disappeared. But this isn't any boss, and these aren't any soldiers. It's Tsuna, and he cherishes everyone dearly."_

He had moved across the empty alley; the only thing heard was that of Dino's steps. But it was comforting, and it had gave Reborn time to think about three relevant yet random things. Like if the decision he made to go after Tsuna was the right one instead of waiting for him. Like how he will get himself out of this shit that he managed to step into precariously, since his anxiety and anger clouded his decision. Like what would he do from this point on.

But like money, answers didn't come on trees, and no matter how much he tried to pluck an answer from the fruitful tree of his brain, nothing came to him. Well, besides maybe self-justice and a little bit of pride. But that had nothing to do with nothing. So Reborn simply sighed and asked more about the mission.

"_So what are the documents that Hibari and Tsuna supposed to collect?"_

_"I can't say,"_ Dino replied sullenly as he turned onto a main street. Hibari was still a ways away, but at least Reborn knew where they were, which was the good news. They were on the edge of Namimori, the outskirts of the small town.

_"What, you don't know?"_

_"I'm not allowed to say. By Kyoya. We're out on public, and as he puts it, 'we don't know who is listening.' So he told me to discuss it when we are together."_

_"Was this before or after I came?"_

_"Before. Yeah, I contacted Kyoya to let him know you're here too, but it is the same. In fact, Kyoya will more or less fill you in on what I missed. He has a lot of respect for you, you know."_

The baby had smirked. He could tell that from when they first met.

"_I know."_

They had came close to the school, and Reborn glanced at the building. Unlike most things, Namimori Middle School didn't change. That was probably one of the things Reborn could count on to stay the same for all of his lifespan-short as it may be.

"_Does Hibari live around here?"_

"_Not even close." _Reborn only hummed in thought as he had adjusted himself on Dino's shoulder.

* * *

He had learned a lot from simply spending time with his old student, and Reborn felt a little sorry that they weren't able to talk under different circumstances. But at least he spent time with him.

"We're here." Reborn looked up briefly, and what met him was a large sized house. It wasn't quite a mansion;it was too small for that, but it was reasonably large.

In addition to that, it had an old, eastern feel to it. It was almost like he was looking at the houses that existed during *Nobunaga's time. But it wasn't as large.

"Does he live with anyone?"

"No," the blond replied as he rapped on the door with his fist. "Shame, right? He has all this space." It was almost as if Hibari sat there and listened, because at that moment the door swung open, and the man glared at Dino with a passion.

"That is none of your concern, Bronco." He didn't outright welcome them in; he left the door open and retreated inside towards the living room space. Reborn and Dino did the most logical thing: they closed the door-well, Dino did- and followed the rather impatient man.

Dino was used to it; traveling hall to hall to hall to hall to hall-but Reborn was not. After maybe...ten minutes of solid walking, he figured the outside was an illusion of how big it was inside, and he wondered how long it would take to get to the living room space.

But it didn't seem like it was much longer. Before he saw the room, he heard the most familiar-and at the time, sweetest-voice in the world.

"Is...is that you, Reborn?"

* * *

After Hibari had led him to the mini-ballroom, he ordered Tsuna to freshen up and rest. Unlike the last time, he didn't walk him there, and idly Tsuna wondered if Hibari showed him that to cheer him up.

_But there's no way that's true_, Tsuna thought as he scrubbed his thin legs of the dried blood and stone. _Hibari-san never does anything to...cheer me up in any way._

But the doubt in his mind vanished when said man rapped on the door loudly, making Tsuna jump violently.

"Y-yes?"

"Tomorrow, you will have a visitor. This person will accompany us during the mission." Tsuna's eyebrow rose. Really?

"O-oh. Who is it?"

Silence.

"Hibari-san?"

Silence.

Great. So he left. He obviously didn't want to tell Tsuna who it was, and instead of saying, "None of your business", or "It is not important" or _something_, he instead leaves without a word.

Smooth, Hibari. Real Smooth.

He didn't really have time to worry about it though. Tomorrow was their mission, and he had better rest up, especially if he wanted to be of any use to Hibari...which was debatable at the moment.

Tsuna shook his head and started off to his room. Before, it seemed like there were endless halls in his house. But that, unsuspectingly, is a mechanism to keep those who are supposed to be in-well, in, and those who are enemies lost or out. But after living in the Hibari household for maybe a week or so, he is now used to it.

So used to it that it takes him no more than five minutes to get to his room, which initially took him fifteen.

The boy cracked open his door before creaking it all the way, and then slowly closing it shut. He changed his towel to clothes and then weakly curled up on the bed, which gladly seemed to accept his presence. Within seconds, the boy was out like a light.

_I hope all goes well tomorrow..._

* * *

"...ake..."

Tsuna felt his conscience trying to pull him awake, but he fought it viciously, if only to get a few more minutes of sleep.

"...herbi..." But for some reason, he felt as if it were wrong to do that, that he should get up, and prepare...

Prepare...for what?

Before he could even contemplate what it was he was preparing for, a cold, sharp feeling slid down his back, and the boy yelped before jumping out of the bed.

He glanced around wildly, and only seeing Hibari there with a cube of ice in his hand, snapped at him.

"Wh-what was that for?!"

Wrong move.

The man glared at Tsuna as if he were the scum of the earth, and retreated back to the living room space before asking curtly,

"Did you forget what today is? We do have a time schedule, and I will not tolerate lateness." Almost as if he wanted to drive the point home, Hibari undid his watch from his wrist-the one that he never took off-and threw it to Tsuna, who caught it just in the nick of time.

"Now tell me the time." Still in mild shock, Tsuna was frozen, but he managed to move when he saw the scalding glare Hibari was sending his way.

"It is... a quarter to ten?"

"Exactly. Do you know what time we have to be there?" The boy shook his head.

"Eight forty-five at night. Do you know what time that our accomplices will arrive?" Again, Tsuna shook his head.

"Ten sharp. Do you know how long it will take us to fly to Italy?" Again, he only shook his head.

"Eight and a half hours. If we were to leave for _the mission_-" Tsuna cringed at his biting tone, "at midday, like we are supposed to, we will get to Italy by eight thirty. However, this poses as a problem as we still need to make temporary living arrangements, as we will have to stay there a good four days." Deciding that his explanation had gone way too far, Hibari started to leave.

"You don't have any clothing, which is fine, but you'll need something. Borrow my old clothing for now, and we can look for something later. Bring everything you might need for battle, as anything could happen."

Tsuna nodded slowly, feeling as though under pressure.

Well, he was. Under Hibari's eyes, anyone, even _Dino_, would feel pressure.

But that was besides the point.

He sighed, figuring Hibari was back to his same old self. Never yielding, always cold.

_What happened to the man I spoke with happily yesterday?_

Tsuna began to fish for clothing in the drawers that Hibari provided him, finding many useful things...including a suitcase in the very bottom draw. It was a fold-able one, if you could believe it, yet it was of such great quality that Tsuna didn't even think of it as cheap.

He grabbed that, stuffed clothing and the necessary items in the sides, shoved his gloves and blue pills in his pocket, and headed out to the living room area.

* * *

Hibari was already there, sitting on one of the couches, relaxing like there's nothing wrong in the world.

Though there was. Both in him _and_ the world.

The boy only sat there on the side, and watched as Hibari got up and passed him his plate that was on the far end of the table. Tsuna was going to thank him for the food, and maybe rethink his sentence from earlier when he muttered:

"Eat. I can't have you useless because you're starving."

...

Okay. Scratch that. He is still the same old Hibari. But as Tsuna began to take the food in his mouth, he felt eyes watching him, and slowly he glanced up.

"Th-thank you," he stuttered out before continuing to eat. The older man only nodded curtly before resuming back to his comfy looking couch, reading a book.

But silence fell upon them like a thick cloud, and as such, started to stifle the child. He literally darted his eyes around, looking at everything, anything that might keep him preoccupied. The silence was nice, but after staying in a household filled with two children (not including Reborn), a freeloader and his mom, the silence, like before, bothered him.

But Hibari wasn't a social type, so he could stay in silence for one hour, two hours, a half a day, one day and not have a problem with it. Tsuna...wasn't like that. But he couldn't force the man to talk, so after eating his breakfast and drinking a nice, hot, calming cup of tea, he fidgeted.

And fidgeted.

And fidgeted.

And fidgeted.

And fidgeted.

And fidg-

"What do you want to say?" Tsuna's caramel eyes shot up to Hibari, who was staring at him with a mix of irritation and...amusement? Why amusement?

"Eh? Oh..." Tsuna thought about lying to the man, maybe saying his stomach hurt, or that there was nothing wrong (which was the stronger of the two options), but instead he found himself saying,

"I am just not used to the silence." The boy tensed himself for the worst, that moment that Hibari would claw down his throat like a spider and snap away like a crab at sea. But it didn't happen.

"What do you wish for me to say?" Now this, Tsuna did not expect. But he went along with it, seeing as this was a one-chance thing, a thing Hibari would do only once and never again.

"Could...you tell me about the Parisi family?" Maybe it was that Hibari didn't expect that type of question, but his eyes momentarily widened before his poker face came on.

"They are a half-blood family to the Shimon family, one that we encountered in the past."

"We did?" Tsuna cocked his head. This must have been after the travel, then.

"Yes. Had you been in your world at this time, you would have saw them by now. But now that you are in the future, you will not see them." That was a shame. But Hibari didn't seem upset, so maybe they were enemies?

"Were they enemies?"

"Not quite. They were...acquaintances that became enemies. After the misunderstanding was gone, we fought with them, against a certain person. He was...an enemy who you wouldn't expect." Against his own will, Hibari grimaced though the facade that he held. But it quickly turned back into an emotionless face as he continued.

" I will not say it, and do not," he added, looking at Tsuna's anxious face "ask me. But as for the Shimon family, during the battle, they had managed to break you, and you couldn't snap out of it."

"How so?"

Again, Hibari's face twisted into a slightly sour prune, though his eyebrows didn't crinkle or anything. The only thing that moved was his mouth and the 'pigment' of his eyes.

"They used your family against you. You assumed one thing, and it was something else..."

He could still remember as if it were yesterday that he had been the one to first break through that shell. Tsuna was so far gone by the time he arrived, but he had knew that he could still be saved...

* * *

_Hibari narrowed his eyes at her as she continued to stare at him with a glare plastered to her face. The tension was as thick as molasses, and both guardians present were itching to get in a punch. But Hibari held his temper as he began to speak._

_"During the fight on the roof," he began, his limbs already flexing to fight, "I saw the fangs of your 'beast'." The memories of which he attacked her came back into his mind once more...the pressure of her hands, and wind that snapped between them...yes, it was nice as a warm-up, but it would not harm him the way Millifiore-or even Dino would._

_"You cannot bite me to death." His tone was final, decided, as he appraised her once more. _

_"What?!" Suzuki's eyes widened as she stared at the Cloud guardian before her. Did he really not sense the change in power? Or was he simply that strong? But she didn't bode on it long, because Hibari's eyes glanced over at Tsuna, who was still in his shallow shell of depression and shock._

_"On the other hand..." He smirked as he felt a slight spike in pressure between the two of them, and he knew it wasn't him. Hah. So she did improve._

_"You'll make a good outlet for my frustration as a lump of meat." It was quiet for a moment as Suzuki trembled in anger, too appalled to say anything._

_"Y-you bastard...It seems that you still do not understand how terrifying the strength of Shimon really is..." She wanted to attack randomly at him, to beat the living snot out of him, but her conscience prevented it._

_"It's a duel," she said with finality. "The rules are decided by our pride. My pride is..." She clicked her weapon and brought it forth along with the Shimon emblem on her arm._

_"The Shimon family led by Enma and the will to cleanse!"_

_Hibari smirked at her answer and mostly because it was decided on something so intangible...so untouchable such as pride._

_"The rules are decided by our pride? Strange." He thought for a moment before continuing. "I can't think of anything I would consider my pride, but the answer isn't hard." He pushed his jacket in back of him, and he watched as the Namimori School's emblem fluttered on his arm._

_"The Namimori Middle School's Disciplinary Committee and the Iron Hammer for those who disturb it."_

_Gokudera grunted as he heard his answer._

_"I knew it was going to come to this," he sighed in exasperation._

_"Hibari is sparkling right now," Reborn added as a side thought. And Tsuna...he simply watched him with his eyes open. He didn't feel anything...but...there was something nagging him in the back of his mind. It was a tug, but it was ever-so-slight._

_"The rules are simple." It wasn't said, but it was implied to battle for the armbands._

_"Whoever takes their opponent's armband first," Suzuki started as she started to inch closer to Hibari, "wins. We don't need top decide on any means."_

_"I'm very stressed right now," Hibari muttered as he glanced back at Tsuna, who was watching them lifelessly. "Anything to divert that to is fine by me."_

_The woman smirked as her limbs stiffened for her to make the move. "Very well then. My element of the earth is..." She clutched onto her fist tight as the power of her ring started to fill the atmosphere. In seconds, shards of what appeared to be ice formed all around her body, and gave her something akin to a protective shell._

_"Glacier!" She quickly jumped from where she was to approach a waterfall, and immediately touched it, so part of it became ice. With those shards of ice, she broke the whole rock of which the waterfall was going down into._

_"W-what power," Gokudera exclaimed as he stared at her from the cliff. _

_"She's strong," Reborn replied as he saw the gaping hole in the rock. "That's why she's practically the leader of Shimon."_

_This, however, didn't even faze Tsuna, who was still in shock with everything that has happened. And the lack of reaction...got to Hibari somehow._

_"Little degenerates." He started to the waterfall, but ultimately towards Tsuna, who was still looking blankly at the world. _

_"Your face just now..." he glared at Tsuna, but his glare was more..._

_"...is_ boring_." And Tsuna, knowing Hibari was talking directly to him, widened his eyes the slightest of bits. Again, a nagging feeling surged through Tsuna, but it didn't faze him because it was only slight. And at that, Hibari was frustrated about. Hibari walked up to him calmly, not caring how Reborn looked at him blankly, or how Gokudera was anxious to see what he would say. He wanted to see Tsuna's reaction, and Tsuna alone._

_Hibari was right in front of him, his eyes meeting Tsuna's...and then he said,_

_"Look closely at my fight..." He was going to say something else, but then he changed his mind as the last second. Instead of saying what was originally on his mind, he instead whispered,_

_"Don't stray your eyes from me. Watch my success..." His eyes warmed up only slightly to Tsuna, who showed an immediate reaction as his eyes that were once blank and empty became filled with temporary light. it wasn't the words he said-okay, it was that too, but it was the way he looked at Tsuna. He never looked at him like that before, and the shock was so big that it managed to temporarily kick Tsuna out of his depression._

_As soon as he told Tsuna his message, he unlocked his box weapon and started to fall._

_Quickly, Tsuna ran to the end of the cliff as he looked down at Hibari, who had the box weapon in his hand._

_"H-Hibari-san?!"_

* * *

From then on, Hibari swore that as long as he lived, he would try to prevent anything like that from happening again. Although he was not extremely loyal to Tsuna, he still would be irritated if he died. Tsuna wasn't quite a friend; he was certainly no lover or loved one, but Hibari somewhat depended on him. He depended on him to be there, to be the same old Tsuna who was kind, compassionate, and loving.

A broken Tsuna couldn't have done any of that.

"Was I ever helped?"

...

"Yes," he finally answered, his eyes flickering from the hallway to Tsuna's face. After a moment of silence, Hibari ordered Tsuna to stay in the same place, after looking at the hallway. "Do not move. I will return." With that, he got up, and he walked briskly to and through the hallway.

* * *

Tsuna sat there, wondering, pondering about Hibari's expressions. It was like talking about the Shimon family in front of him was like opening up a can of worms that were just begging to come out.

Hibari looked so pained at one point.

"I wonder if he even wanted to do this mission." One thought led to another, and Tsuna wondered why he was even doing this mission. If it pained him so much to even talk about the Shimon family, how could he professionally deal with their half-family? He didn't understand.

But he didn't even have time to as voices came from the hallway that Hibari went to.

"...is around here." Immediatly, Tsuna stiffened. That voice was Dino. Last time he saw Dino, he came to deliver that Tsuna wouldn't be going back home anytime soon. He knew that he shouldn't suspect, but after finally healing, was Dino here to deliver more bad news?

But that feeling of darkened doubt vanished when he heard a strangely familiar voice. And that sound...it couldn't be-

The boy shot up out of his seat and almost ran to the hallway. Hibari, Dino, and the mystery person were rounding the corner, to where he was. But Tsuna wasn't so patient as to sit-or stand-there, waiting for them to come around.

So he called out to him.

"Is...is that you, Reborn?"

* * *

A/R: I feel that this chapter is lacking something. What do you guys think? Please send me PMs or review or something, some kind of feedback that can give me a push in the right direction...

As for the five followers who followed me **(lyx-hime, Danettes, JarFullofSmiles, Meganlei**, and **Pharmenia**) thank you oh-so-much! I know I haven't been able to get back to you, please forgive me.

As for the two favoriters who favored my story (**Amerika Knight** and **AngelHonoreku**), thank you. I am sure I probably didn't get back to you guys either. Ugh, tests, life and work bore you down, huh? I don't even want to THINK about when I'm in college...

Um...and for reviews...besides (inotropics) who I will answer right now, I PINKY SWEAR WITH VODKA that I will answer you today in a PM form if I haven't already. But I need rest first. A lot.

**Inotropics**: Thank you for your kind sentiments! Though I am sure this chapter was predictable. Wah. Not sure if the next one will be, though. Thanks for your review!

Oh! And this is important! I know it technically takes 12 hours and change to get from Tokyo, Japan to Rome, Italy. They ain't going to the capital, but rather the outskirts of Italy. This is why I made it eight hours and change instead of twelve.

About the cold ice...my father used to do that a lot to get me up, and I wanted Tsuna to share the same fate...heh eh eh...

EDIT: Thank you **Page Alpha**-or Mr.G.U.E.S.T(ie), since FF doesn't like the name Mr. A.N.O.N., I will change it to Mr.G.U.E.S.T(ie).

*Look up Oda Nobunaga, and with him you should see the type of building they used to make. Hibari's is like that, only smaller.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST! I got a PM regarding the (I) on the side of certain chapters. That means that there will be a part two of that chapter, but it will be later on in the future.


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